data-relay satellite

A satellite in geostationary orbit, used to pass data between other satellites or space platforms in low Earth orbits and stations on the ground. The DRS proposed by ESA will be compatible with NASA's TDRSS and Japan's DTRS.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

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References in periodicals archive

The first Tracking and Data-Relay Satellite (TDRS-1) was launched on April 4, 1983 (Challenger's maiden flight).

Discovery; TDRS and other plans

For 1988, in the first of the year's three shuttle missions, the shuttle craft Discovery will have two primary goals: flight-testing the various modifications and procedures that have been incorporated since the Challenger catastrophe, and deploying the second of NASA's Tracking and Data-Relay satellites (TDRS).

Spacebound again: the mixing of the fleet; NASA's launch plans for 1988 and beyond represent more than just the shuttles' return

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